McDonald's Wasabi Shubi & Crab Cream Croquette Burger Review - KOREAN FOOD REVIEW & RECIPE

Home » K-food Review » K-Hamburger / Franchise » McDonald’s Wasabi Shubi & Crab Cream Croquette Burger Review

McDonald’s Korea has dropped two new wasabi-flavored seafood burgers at the end of April: the Wasabi Shubi Burger and Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger. McDonald’s tends to take a single new sauce and apply it across two or three similar menus, with hit-or-miss results. Since I’m a regular fan of the Shubi Burger (a McDonald’s Korea-exclusive shrimp-and-beef double patty), and the new crab cream croquette caught my eye, I went straight in to try them both. Through the chain’s McLunch midday discount, both burgers come in under 10,000 won, which keeps the value reasonable. Let’s break down what’s actually in them.

Table of Contents

📋 At a Glance

Products: Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger / Wasabi Shubi Burger (2 items)
Brand: McDonald’s Korea
Launch date: April 30, 2026 (limited spring run)
Campaign model: Chef Choi Kang-rok (winner of Netflix’s Culinary Class Wars Season 2)
Where to buy: All McDonald’s Korea locations (excluding select stores) + McLunch lunchtime deal (weekdays 10:30 AM – 2:00 PM, both burgers available under 10,000 won)
Shared build: sesame bun, lettuce, tomato, mayo sauce, 100% pure beef patty, grilled onion, wasabi tartar sauce
Differentiator: crab cream croquette patty (croquette burger) vs whole-shrimp patty (Shubi burger)
Verdict: ★3.5 — A pair of spring-only seafood burgers with a clear wasabi punch; the Shubi pairs the sauce more naturally

McDonald’s Wasabi Burger Duo: Pricing and Concept

This launch comes as a duo. Both burgers reinterpret existing McDonald’s Korea recipes around a new wasabi tartar sauce, developed in collaboration with Choi Kang-rok — the winner of Culinary Class Wars Season 2, the Netflix Korean cooking competition that became a global hit in 2024-26. The chef has previously demonstrated a crab cream croquette recipe on his personal YouTube channel, so how the wasabi sauce slots in here is genuinely interesting. Pricing first.

The recently retired basil cream menu has now made way for these two, also released as a spring-only limited run. With the weather warming up fast, the cooling sting that wasabi delivers should land well with seasonal demand. For this review, I ordered the Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger as a medium combo and the Wasabi Shubi Burger as a single.

Inside the Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger

Starting with the Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger. The wrapper itself features a crab claw illustration, signaling its seafood identity at a glance. Once unwrapped, the burger sits inside a paper burger ring.

From the side, the golden, crispy-fried crab cream croquette grabs your attention first, followed by green lettuce and a pale-green mayo sauce. It looks like a bakery-style croquette sized up to fit a hamburger patty.

Half-Cut Layer Breakdown and the Wasabi Tartar Sauce

The wasabi sauce sits underneath the crab cream croquette. Of course, this isn’t fresh wasabi — McDonald’s describes it as a tartar-style sauce. The green sauce on top reads more like a salad dressing, and while wasabi notes do come through, whether that’s actually wasabi-blended or just visual styling is a little ambiguous.

Splitting it open shows the layers clearly. The bun is McDonald’s standard sesame seed bun. From top to bottom: lettuce and tomato, mayo sauce, beef patty, a touch of grilled onion, the crab cream croquette patty, and the wasabi tartar sauce.

A quick taste of the wasabi tartar sauce confirms the impression: a sharp wasabi punch and a clear sinus-clearing heat. It looks like it’ll match a seafood-style patty well. As for the crab cream potato croquette itself, that’s a question best answered by actually tasting it.

Inside the Wasabi Shubi Burger

Next up, the Wasabi Shubi Burger. This wrapper carries a shrimp illustration. Since this version is the existing McDonald’s Korea Shubi Burger with its standard sauce swapped for the wasabi tartar, comparing it to the original is the natural angle. The packaging follows the same paper burger ring format.

Since only the sauce has changed from the existing Shubi Burger, the comparison frame is clear. Given how assertive the new sauce is, the flavor profile should shift quite a bit.

Splitting this one open too. From top to bottom: lettuce and tomato, mayo sauce, beef patty, a touch of grilled onion, the shrimp burger patty, and the wasabi tartar sauce. The build is almost identical to the crab cream croquette burger above.

Same Build, Different Patty: The Wasabi Combo Question

McDonald’s has plenty of menu options, but Shubi Burger fans run quietly deep. The whole question for this release becomes whether the new wasabi tartar pairing complements or interferes with the original flavor framework — that’s where opinions will split.

What sets this duo apart is that the build is essentially the same and only the patty changes. The wasabi-meets-seafood-burger angle does show up in indie burger joints fairly often, but it’s a combination major chains rarely attempt — which makes the actual taste worth investigating.

Taste Test: Wasabi Crab Cream Croquette Burger

Time to taste in order, starting with the crab cream croquette burger. Straight in for the first bite.

Crab cream croquette flavor characteristics

Honestly, the first impression: the wasabi sauce delivers way more punch than expected. Processed wasabi sauces typically just give a faint aroma, but this wasabi tartar — while not at fresh wasabi intensity — packs a clear nose-tingling sharpness. That little sinus zing hits right on the first bite.

The crab cream croquette comes through with a solid crunch. However, the dominant flavor inside is the croquette’s familiar smooth, nutty potato note rather than the crab itself. The seafood signal is subtler than the name might suggest.

Soft Base Saved by Wasabi: Light on Crab, Solid Balance

Overall, the seasoning runs mild and soft, and the intermittent wasabi spike works as a real kick within the build. Anyone hoping for assertive crab flavor will find it a touch underwhelming, but the overall balance comes together well. Wasabi pairs naturally with deep-fried items, after all.

It reminded me of a katsu burger from No Brand Burger that paired wasabi with breaded pork — a similar genre of pairing. Approachable to eat, and the wasabi notably cuts through the richness that croquette-based burgers typically carry. The flavor profile holds up well overall.

Taste Test: Wasabi Shubi Burger

On to the Wasabi Shubi Burger. Since I’m a regular Shubi Burger eater, the focus here was specifically on what changes between the standard version and this one.

The first impression actually surprised me. Same whole-shrimp + beef double patty, same vegetables — only the sauce has changed to wasabi tartar — yet the flavor profile shifts substantially. The original Shubi Burger’s sweet-chili-mayo sauce skewed toward a sharper, more aggressive tone, whereas the wasabi version pivots that same patty toward something cooling and nose-tingling. A clean live demonstration of how a single sauce can reframe a whole build.

Compared to the crab cream croquette above, the shrimp burger lets its shrimp flavor come through more clearly. The wasabi-plus-fried-patty pairing cuts the richness while accommodating the slightly heavy shrimp body well.

Final Verdict

Comparing the two, personally I leaned slightly toward the Shubi version. The crab cream croquette burger uses the wasabi sauce more as a supporting role to cut the cream’s richness, whereas the Wasabi Shubi puts wasabi directly against the shrimp patty as the main pairing — and that combination genuinely fuses the flavors. The croquette burger basically becomes a different burger without the wasabi, while the Shubi version uses wasabi as a meaningful new variation within the existing Shubi framework. The only minor disappointment is that the beef patty flavor sits a touch quiet.

Both burgers ultimately swap a single sauce on a familiar build, and the resulting flavor shift demonstrates how impactful that swap can be. The wasabi sauce intensity stays manageable, but the nose-tingling heat is genuinely there — anyone who normally avoids wasabi should think it through before ordering. Through McLunch at lunchtime, both burgers come in under 10,000 won at participating stores, so a side-by-side comparison taste before the season ends is a fun option. For travelers visiting Korea this spring, both are worth grabbing at any McDonald’s Korea location while the campaign runs.

For background on Choi Kang-rok’s casting, both menus’ launch concept, and McDonald’s Korea’s seafood lineup expansion strategy, see (Korean source) Newsis coverage of the McDonald’s wasabi burger duo launch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are these wasabi burgers available outside Korea?

No — both burgers are McDonald’s Korea-exclusive limited-edition releases, launched April 30, 2026 as a spring-only run. International travelers visiting Korea can find them at any McDonald’s Korea location nationwide while the campaign runs. The Shubi Burger itself (the base shrimp+beef double-patty model) is also a Korea-only menu, not available in other markets.

Q. How much do they cost?

Both burgers are included in McDonald’s Korea’s McLunch lunchtime promotion. During the McLunch window — weekdays 10:30 AM to 2:00 PM, in-store dining only — both come in under 10,000 won as a single or medium combo. Outside that window, regular pricing applies. Check the McDonald’s Korea app for the most accurate current pricing in your region.

Q. Wasabi Shubi vs Crab Cream Croquette — which is better?

Personally, the Wasabi Shubi pairs better. On the Shubi, the whole-shrimp patty meets the wasabi directly and the flavors fuse as a main combination. On the croquette burger, wasabi acts more as a richness-cutting supporting note. If the classic shrimp-and-wasabi pairing appeals to you, go Shubi; if you prefer the soft, layered texture of a cream croquette, the croquette burger lands better.

Q. How strong is the wasabi heat?

Stronger than typical processed wasabi sauces. It doesn’t reach fresh wasabi intensity, but the first bite delivers a clear nose-tingling sting. Anyone with a low tolerance for wasabi should consider that before ordering. Conversely, wasabi fans get an unusual flavor combination rarely found in major fast-food chains, which makes the experience genuinely worthwhile.

image sources

버거 조합 비교 사진: Copyright PAKOC https://pakoc.net

McDonald’s Wasabi Shubi & Crab Cream Croquette Burger Review